Act leader and Deputy Prime Minister-in-waiting David Seymour has some advice for the Waitangi Tribunal which has asked that Children’s Minister Karen Chhour be summonsed to appear before them.
Seymour said the move by the tribunal was vexatious and would ultimately fail.
“The Waitangi Tribunal’s attempt to summons Minister Karen Chhour makes me deeply fearful for them.
“I’m worried they haven’t thought about who they’re dealing with.”
Seymour said Chhour was herself a survivor of the state care system and carries more mana than the Waitangi Tribunal.
The Waitangi Tribunal is under fire from David Seymour and Shane Jones.
“Karen is a Māori woman who survived the state care system. By their own standards, they are buying a fight with someone of much greater mana.
“It’s not just Karen. They don’t seem to understand the subject either. Karen is removing section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act because a child’s safety and welfare matter more than their race.
“Section 7AA has led to Māori children being uplifted from loving homes due to the ethnicity of the carers. The tribunal seems to think that’s okay. I call it race fanaticism.
“It’s not just the person and the issue, though. It’s also the timing. With the recent publication of a Newsroom story about the traumatic ‘reverse uplift’ of children from a loving home because their carers were the wrong race, their timing couldn’t be worse.
“The tribunal summonsed the wrong woman, on the wrong issue, at the wrong time. No wonder some people think they’re past their use-by date. Perhaps they should be wound up for their own good.”
Cabinet minister Shane Jones was criticised for his 'star chamber' remarks about the Waitangi Tribunal this week. Photo / Te Ao Māori News
NZ First MP Shane Jones is another politician who says the Waitangi Tribunal has over reached its scope by summonsing Chhour.
Yesterday the Māori Law Society wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon asking he look into Jones’ comments about the Waitangi Tribunal.
